Wizard Books

I think my biggest beef with this book is the way the ships are organized. Instead of alphabetically ordered (even the four new templates like junker and prototype are in with the ships in alphabetical order instead of a little section of their own)I think it would have made more sense to have the ships catagorized by size, function, or the best prolly would have been by who used or made them. Like... all the old republic ships in one section, then new empire, then the independants... I dunno, it just get's very dissorganized when they do it alphabetically. My other beef being I guess even though it is labeled "Starships" I was hoping to see some land speeders or bikes, a few walkers... land craft I guess, I wonder if that means they'll come out with a land craft book or just put them chunk by chunk in the other supplements which seems to be what they're doing. Seems the KotR book has speeders and bikes and the Unleashed book has some too so.... In order to play the game you have to buy all the books anyways right? One last beef... The templates in my opinion are pretty useless, nice attempt, but really... if a gm wants to make a ship a junker... you don't really need a template, just make some of the stats lower...
On to the pluss' of this book. There is enough selection of ships (barely) to put together a battle. There are maybe a couple of fighters, freighters, transports, capital ships, etc from each era of play from each faction. There are pictures for 99% of the ships which is allways good and the art is exceptional. I guess I do have another beef with this book which was actually the first thing that annoyed me, there are only about 4 schematic layouts for ships... so there are all these ships but only about four of them have blueprint layouts (dynamic a.k.a. ebon hawk, sith infiltrator a.k.a. Darth Maul's personal transport, and of course han solo's ride.. I'm pretty sure there's one more... oh yea, one other space transport) which bummed me out because I was looking to throw some space pirates into the campaign and would have liked to work with some actual ship layouts instead of making them myself and I guess it would have gotten pretty rediculous with the sheer size of some of these ships but they could have done a few more of them. The ships have brief descriptions of who made them and why which is good for tying them in to your campaign as well as a capabilities section which is good for basically letting you know how that ship was used. One of the best parts of this book was the modification part which was laid out and explained very well. There are new talents and feats which were interesting but seriously I think unless the GM let's it be known that it is going to be a campaign heavy in space most of them are pretty useless to a standard campaign, more for building specialized characters. There is one cool feat enabling someone to literally make a ship from the ground up and I think that's cool. I reccomend this book for two people and two people only... The GM who wants to throw an occasional small scale starship battle into the campaign (although get ready for a headache cuz the rules and specs on how to do this are complicated) and the player who wants to be a specialized character, the player who really wants to be an ace pilot and have a personalized ship that is capable of more than just getting the party from point a to point b. Hey, no group is complete without a han solo right? beats calling a taxi all the time and really helps flesh out a character. Sooo... I'd say this book is more for the player looking to flesh their character than for the GM

The Starships of the Galaxy sourcebook for the Star Wars RPG is a nice addition to the series of sourcebooks that are coming out this year. Along with Threats of the Galaxy that came out a couple weeks before it, Starships of the Galaxy puts more depth and definition into your sessions with chases, dogfights, and all the great things that makes a Starship in Star Wars a Starship. Having great Starships, Freighters, and Capital Ships from the Star Wars universe. From Starships like Luke Skywalker's X-Wing and Darth Vader's Tie Fighter, then Freighters like Han Solo's Millenium Falcon and Knights of the Old Republic's Ebon Hawk, to Capital Ships like the Corellian Corvette and the Victory Class Star Destroyer, it's all here. For fans of the Star Wars RPG and fans of Star Wars period this is a great book to add to your collection. With nice stats for all the Starships for Star Wars. If you enjoy the game and enjoy the Star Wars universe this is a definite must buy!

I like the book, and I love how extensive it is and how well it explains just about everything you need to know about a starship. It really embellishes the starship battles and makes it much more immersive into the Star Wars Universe everyone knows and loves.

The only drawback is that much of it goes so in-depth that the typical group will not take the feats necessary to use most of the book. Unless you have a campaign centered around a group of pilots, much of the book will be largely unused.

But, it is a necessity should you choose to make a campaign of snub-fighter jocks or members of the Imperial Navy or a party who just wants to design and build their own ship.

This newest version of the Star Wars Starship guide is great for those Smigglers, Bounty Hunters and Ace pilots that want to buy,steal or build their own custom made ship.

After picking up the Star Wars SAGA roleplaying game from Amazon, I went to the Wizards of the Coast website to look up any potential printing errors in the book. While I was looking around, I read about an up and coming supplement dealing with starship options. It piqued my interest, so I pre-ordered a copy of it on Amazon.

A month later, the book arrived and after spending about a week using it, I can say it was very much worth the money.

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"Starships of the Galaxy" is at heart a gathering of ship statistics, paragraphs of ship descriptions within the Star Wars timeline and pieces of art sprinkled throughout.

There's good variety here: most if not all of the movie ships were covered, including the medical frigates (seen at the end of The Empire Strikes Back and during Return of the Jedi), Cloud Cars (seen in The Empire Strikes Back), Super Star Destroyers (around the middle to end of Return of the Jedi) and more. In addition to what was seen in the six films, there are also entries that come from the Expanded Universe novels, like Xizor's Virago (from Shadows of the Empire). These were a nice touch that managed to cater to both casual and hardcore fans.

In some cases, the descriptions were a little skimpy - you'd either read about who used the ship, or when and where it was conceived, but rarely both. Mostly though, they did get the basics of the vehicle across.

The art is a mixed bag in terms of style - some were very straight, bright and blocky, giving the ship a technical drawing feel (like the X-Wing, and it appears the artists did work for the d20 Modern supplement "d20 Future"). Others were a bit blurry, colorful and seemed to make the ship look like it was engaged that moment in the heat of battle (such as the Virago). Both were done well, however. So, consistency aside, I was very pleased.

Though smaller than the rest of the book, there is a section on starship maneuvers and tactics. While these are reserved for campaigns set primarily with vehicle combat as the main conflict, there are some good single options that work for a mixed theme campaign.

To top it off, the covering is solidly build and the pages aren't thin and easily bent. The low page count (160) might turn some away (and I was skeptical myself after Wizards lowered the average from 192 to 160) but as long as the content stays at this level of quality or rises, the cost will be justifiable.

this book offer a lot of info about boats and ships. it also has new races and subraces.Good book

Nice addition to the environment books being put out by WOTC. One would have thought these would have come out just after the core rulebooks.

I liked this book... the information is really useful for DM's who want to add water to their adventures and adds new features such as races, spells and scenarios (rules included).

I would like a better choice of races and a little more of information about underwater adventures since the information is focused on anphibious races and more pirate style adventures (which I don't mind about it).

The spells are Ok and the monsters included are interesting too.

This book is a good reference for coast and shore adventures, if you want to play a pirate-style adventure or just to change the location of your standard adventures, this book is right for you.

Stormwrack is a nice book about sea trade, pirates, and aqauatic adventures. It has a few bits of rather nice advice for those seeking to add an aquatic touch to their campaign or make a purely aquatic one. They have some of the best rules for boats (as far as I'm concerned) out of any d20 book.

That being said, this book is really only about oceans, and is most useful to DMs. Players won't get much out of it unless they know they're going to be playing in waterbased campaigns for a long time.

All right. I've been looking forward to this book for a long time. I've heard great things about Frostburn. I had a positive reaction to Sandstorm. This is the third book in the environment series and it deals with one of my great loves . . . the sea.

So how did Richard Baker, Joseph D. Carriker, Jr., and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes do? Did this Wizards of the Coast book meet my (admittedly high) expectations?
Well, no.

I can't recommend this book. I wouldn't have bought it but that's because it fell woefully short on the only areas I'm likely to use. Your game might differ, so lets discuss what they book actually contains.

Chapter One discusses the uses of this book and the type adventures a GM might run. This discusses aquatic adventures, planar adventures and the like. The chapter ends with a discussion of a stripped down narrative way of handling naval combat, under the premise that in a D&D campaign, naval combat won't be exciting for the players (this is the first time I disagreed with a premise of the book).

Chapter Two contains four "new" aquatic races. Now, the Aquatic Elf is an old D&D standby, but please, WotC, enough already. I've got more sapient races in my D&D games than I know what to do with. I've got enough. Stop deluging me. Races are getting as bad Prestige Classes.
The second half of the chapter deals with existing races and their interaction with the seas. This is more in line with what I wanted.
Chapter Three is classes. The first half deals with class variations, such as how to handle an sea-based druid. This is what these books should be about. The second half deals with Prestige classes.

Sigh. Those who follow my reviews know my deep hatred of Prestige Class proliferation. Now this book had a shot of getting a pass from me like Waterdeep. I mean, the sea is an alien environment. A few new prestige classes might be a must, especially dealing with characters that actually live or work underwater.

They had seven. Seven!

I think I'm going to swallow my tongue.

Chapter 4 has the same problem as the previous two. It begins with some expansions to skill rulings, which is delightful. Then it moves on to continue Feat proliferation. Twenty-Three new feats by my count. Really, isn't there a Betty Ford program for these people? A few, like sea legs, I can see. Now stop it.

Chapter 5 deals with ships and equipment. This is the chapter that made me want to toss the book. I'll get back to it later.

Chapter 6, Spells and Magic Items. You guessed it. Spell proliferation. Has anyone explained to these people that there's a point where "crunchy bits" become "soggy bits?" They also have new psionic powers, which was novel enough for me to be charmed (I don't have a psionic proliferation issue, but I have faith WotC will get me there eventually). New magic items are good. I think my favorite part here was the new Epic spells. Hey, high-level campaigns don't get a lot of love from game companies.

Chapter 7 is monsters. New monsters don't dilute or unbalance a game (yet) and this is a new environment, so huzzah. Some of the monsters, like the hippocampus, are a bit familiar as well, and I welcome them back.
Chapter 8 is adventure locales. I've enjoyed this chapter in the previous books, and this one is no exception. Hear that? I liked the last two chapters.

So, let's discuss the book overall.

Half of it is filled with stuff (Chapters 2-4, plus 6), for which I frankly have no use. What are the odds of one of these prestige classes ever making it into one of my games. Compare to the hundreds of prestige classes out there and honestly tell me why I'd be willing to pay for that paper and ink. The same is true for races and feats and spells. WotC needs to learn to pick their battles. If these chapters were focused, like a laser, instead of this scattershot approach, drowning us in game mechanics, I would have liked them. They aren't. So half the book is all but useless to me.

Now we get to two deeper issues, however.

First of all, research. I felt like a lot of research went into this product, there was all sorts of things that I didn't know, and I'm a bit of a nautical buff. Still, the things I did know often have glaring omissions. It's as if they wrote rules without thinking them through, or as if they didn't fully understand the implications of what they wrote.
Let me give you a couple examples.

First of all, there's the sinking ship. Now they have rules based on such facts as how much damage the ship has taken, and a ship can sink very fast with these rules. Still, they never mentioned that ships are made out of wood (at least most ships a PC will see). A real age of sail ship wouldn't typically sink quickly. They'd sink until their deck was a foot or two below the surface and stay that way for an hour or more, until the wood became water-logged enough that it went down the rest of the way (they might sink fast if they were very heavily laden, but the book doesn't address that). Now, this is an extremely important fact, one that would radically change the way a sinking ship is handled by the players, but it's never mentioned at all. If they had just spent one sentence on that fact then the DM could have used those rules to model it and this would have been a usable rule. Either they didn't research enough to understand this or they didn't think it important to tell the reader. Either way, the book doesn't get you the information you need. Since I found one important fact missing in an area I knew about, I now doubt the stuff I didn't know.

A second example. They use age of sail ships and they have some cannons, but they also have much older ship weaponry, the kind that you can't use from an age of sail ship. I don't see where they ever mentioned that you can't use a catapult from most of the ships in this book without damaging the rigging. They discuss that there might not be gunpowder on some worlds, ruling out cannons, but they never give an alternative. The ships on this book are designed based on a level of ship technology that can't evolve without cannons. If you are going to say that they might not have cannons, a reasonable alternative is needed, and in a game with little one-shot alchemist items in the PH, it would seem they could produce something. Heck, Wizards, back when it was TSR, actually published an article in Dragon where they discussed this problem (They owned Dragon back then if I have the time line correct). Someone at the company should know their intellectual property better than I do. Again, it's like they didn't follow through.

But this isn't the biggest problem for me. I'm used to companies screwing up ships.

No, the biggest problem is you have a book built around water adventures. Your game might vary, but in my game 90% of the time I'd use that book I'd be dealing with a ship. The book has perhaps 20-30 pages that directly relates to ships. I don't see anything in there what would improve my nautical game. I see very little in there that would improve anyone's nautical game. Instead of giving better rules for ship combat, they give sketchier ones. Instead of sprinkling the book with boxes describing details of ship life, they discuss world building logistics that are more likely to make your world more improbable. Instead of giving us useful ship data, they skimp over it with a minuscule treatment. They could have taken that old Dragon article, updated it straight to 3.5 and had a more useful book (and that article had a lot of problems of its own).

So you have to look and decide if this book is right for you. Maybe you need more aquatic races because your starting an exclusively underwater campaign. Maybe you want skimpier ship combat because you know your players will hate it. Maybe you don't intend to use the ships from this book (or don't need them, or only need one or two). If that's the case, this might be the book for you. It's not that it was poorly written, I've had this many problems with books and given them a recommendation. It's that this book's entire focus seems to be geared toward a different type of game than I would ever run.

Maybe you're the one it's focused at. If that's the case, buy it. If not, let it be.

I got 670 on my GRE verbal, and this book helped me greatly!

Initially, in my model exams, I could only score somewhere between 350~450. But after a long time of study, I was able to get the high score stated earlier.

There are several good qualities of this book. There is nearly 2000 challenging vocabulary words. The explanation of the words are also phenomenal. Most importantly, the words are used in context, so you can easily memorize the vocabulary word.

This book might be a little too hard for those who has a very weak vocabulary to start with. A good idea is to start with Princeton Word Smart Series with Audio. Merging this book with Word Smart Series is the ideal way to build a solid vocabulary base for GRE examination.

This book adds enjoyment to the desire of every one to have good vocabulary strength. More we proceed with story more words we add to our word pool.

I can summarise that, this is easiest way to enhance our vocabulary.

This is a great book for learning vocabulary needed for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc. However, this title assumes a decent hold on the English language. It is geared at Grades 12+. Frankly, most 12th graders nowadays wouldn't even know these words. I imagine that if a 11th/12th grader took the time to work through it, it would help them tremendously on their SAT.

I realized myself how lacking my vocabulary was when I purchased this book -- there was barely a word I knew in it. This problem made it relatively difficult the first time I read it; I went through the book three times overall. It's like completing an entire class and takes time to absorb it all. However, it will pay off in dividends: after studying this book, my vocabulary base sored. The benefits definately outweigh the time sacrifice.

An increased vocabulary helps you in so many ways. I found learning many words and roots (I also used interactive Wordsmart) started branching out and helped to improve other subjects like foreign language and even math.

It's one of the hardest vocabulary builders there is available, so completing this makes the rest of them much easier to follow. This is the big guy! It rivals some of the medium-upper tier levels of the Wordsmart program.

If you're relatively weak when it comes to vocabulary, you might want to read some of the easier books (The Pinocchio Vocabulary Builder by the same author, Cartoon Vocabulary volume 1 and 2, etc.) first.

Finally, I have also completed Tarzan and Jane's Guide to Grammar/Pinocchio by the same author. Both of those are easier than this. I used them both after completing this, but they are the easier ones of the three -- this book being the hardest of all three.

I got this book to see if my 9-year-old could use it but as it turned out, the book is more suitable for me than it is for her. It is a great way to build one's vocabulary (I am learning quite a few new words myself) but it does take some discipline, and is certainly a bit too advanced for my daughter. If Mark Philips could also include the pronunciation in the footnotes, that would be even better.
Note: this is not the origianl Wizard of Oz story, a point about which I am a little disappointed. A great vocab book nonetheless.

This book has good words for first 100 pages, then later this book becomes tedious to read. Because each sentence has three to four tough words. This book is for people who have good command over English language. Also the words used in this book are hardly used in everyday english. Don't waste your money.

Ngugi has here written a weighty but engaging tale of ... well, it's a little hard to describe. There's an African dictator, three sycophantic government ministers (so sycophantic that one had his eyes surgically enlarged to be able to spot the Ruler's enemies, another his ears...), a traditional healer, an activist, an opportunistic businessman, a wife fed up with beatings, condescending representatives from the "Global Bank," and Much, Much More.

Having worked in and read about African countries for a number of years, many of the players seemed familiar: for example, the former revolutionaries co-opted into the ruling party reminded me of Richard Leakey, the Kenyan opposition politician who lost credibility by joining the ruling party.

In short, I really enjoyed this piece: part farcical satire, part magical realism (as the Ruler blows up like a balloon and begins to float - yes, really), part political activist's anthem, and occasionally just a drama. In the drama occasions, I usually wished for more farcical satire, but still, I highly recommend this book.

I've read three novels by Ngugi wa Thiong'o: The River Between, Petals of Blood, and this one. This is definitely the most fun (okay, it's the only remotely funny one). I'd recommend Petals of Blood for a much more serious and depressing account of post-colonial disillusionment with local leadership. Another novel that I found illustrative of post-colonial African politics was Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People.

Note on content: the book has a bit of strong language and lots of absurdity.

If you're looking for the next great African novel, you have found it right here! Written with hints of magical realism, with an almost fairy-tale brand of progression, this novel will have you enthralled from start to finish. An extremely dense and allusion-filled story, full of hidden social commentary. Ngugi does it again, friends! Enjoy!

Wizard of the Crow is very well crafted and extremely entertaining. It tells the story of a fictional African country ruled by a dictator surrounded by sycophantic cabinet ministers. The politicians, businessmen and police officers in the story are all highly superstitious. As a result they become completely caught up with what they regard as an extremely powerful wizard who is controlling all of their lives. The lengths to which they go to protect themselves and to placate the wizard will have you laughing out loud. Although it is a sattire, one finds ones'self constantly thinking of real life personalities who are just like the characters. Within the political intrigue created by the ruler and his lackeys the author manages to weave a gripping love story. I definitely recommend this book. It is a classic.

This epic novel by one of Africa's great writers, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, is as relevant today to many countries in Africa - including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria (to name but a few) - as it is to bygone despotic dictators such as Idi Amin of Uganda and Daniel arep Moi of Kenya. Ngugi had first hand experience of the latter and was imprisoned in Kenya without trial under Moi before going into exile in London. He now lives in California where he is a professor of English and comparative literature at the Irvine campus of the University of California, and the head of its International Center for Writing and Translation.

As several critics have pointed out, this overly long novel would have benefited from some adept and competent editing. Ngugi's writing is a combination of fictional story-telling, magical realism and didactism creating an uneven melange that although a compelling tale, is jagged and at times rambling. This detracts from the satirical commentary about power-hungry corrupt African leaders and their sycophants that are driven by unbridled greed at the expense of any thought for the plight of the destitute masses in their countries.

Ngugi's plea is for Africans to find their voice and reclaim their heritage that was plundered by colonialists. He highlights some of the troubling issues that plague many African countries: megalomaniacal leaders, corruption, oppression of any dissent, a patriarchal machismo resulting in abuse of women, religiosity, neglect of the poor, unemployment, and a strong belief in the supernatural. Juxtaposed against this bleak picture is a vision of hope that change may be possible if sufficient numbers of people join together against the overwhelming forces of evil.

Ngugi leaves us without any definitive answer. In his novel, one despotic dictator has been deposed - only to be replaced by another. However, the underground "Movement for the Voice of the People" remains vibrant and active. Only time will tell what the outcome will ultimately be - and Ngugi is not venturing a prediction.

John Gosling

Aburiria is a fictional country in Africa, ruled by The Ruler, a dictator unlike any other. For his birthday, his cabinet has decided to build a huge tower, tall enough to reach the Heaven, funded by loans from the Global Bank. Of course, not every citizen loves the idea, but all dissenting voices are crushed without mercy - if the international bankers get the idea that Aburiria is unstable, they won't loan the money!

Wizard of the Crow is a delicious satire, filled with outrageous characters. The African story-telling tradition is rich and colourful and Ngugi wa Thiong'o isn't saving words. The book is long and full of magic - magical realism is an excellent label for this book. The competing ministers Machokali and Sikiokuu are hilarious in their antics, yet almost painfully real, not to mention all the corrupt, power-hungry and superstitious businessmen, police and politicians.

I believe most people haven't read any books from African authors. If you wish to educate and entertain yourself, reading Wizard of the Crow is an excellent idea. Even though the book is over 700 pages long, I wouldn't have minded if it had been even longer - it was that good. Only the ending was somewhat flat, perhaps, but making a story this epic end in a satisfying way must be really, really hard. (Review based on the Finnish translation.)

At the time it was first published, this book gave the bard class much to use. More so than the others in the "Complete" series, the kits are actually new character classes that just call themselves bards.

However, this book does not translate very well into d20, although it should provide inspiration for new prestige classes.

This book is probably the most useful book out of the ..... handbooks. If you were to create a Bard, which I would prefer, this book tells you about amazing kits, out of this world special abilities with magical weapons, spells, and more. I hope this would be of good use to you.

The complete handbook serie has to be one of the most disappointing serie to be put out by the folk at D&D. The lack of concision and the overall usefulness of those books are extremly disappointing. Let me first tell you what you won't find in the bard handbook : good illustrations, usefull charts, interesting new skills, or magic items worth mentionning. The reason for this is quite simple, there was no real reason to put out the book in the first place. All you need to know to play your bard caracter, can be found in the 2nd edition player's handbook and the few interesting novelty of this book should have been added there. I'm trying very hard to find something positive or new to mention about this book but there is nothing to find here, just 124 pages of things I already knew or would have rather ignored. If you really feel like you need to know more about how to play a bard character in your campaign, I suggest you look for historic books about bards rather then try to make sense of this one...

I recommend this book highly if you use kits. I have several of the handbooks and this one truly has the best kits of any of them. My players use to never play bards, but after getting this book we always have one in our groups.

If you don't like kits this book proably isn't for you. However, it does have a good chapter on roleplaying bards as well as optional rules for a reputation system that is pretty interesting. There is a section on music which has a list of instruments with pictures and short descriptions. There is also a couple of new proficiencies, spells, magic items; however, I didn't find these particularly useful.

This book not only has great kits, it also has some very helpful charts in it concerning the off-combat role playing of the Bard. There is a table for legend lore rolls, money made playing in taverns, reputation and what kind of followers you can have. The kits are astounding and they really explore how far the rules let you go with the Bard. I am a musician in real life and playing the Bard with this book in hand makes D & D so much fun. I recommend this book to DM and player alike.

Ciarran D'Arbois is a sorcerer of light. A Guardian of the barrier between dimensions. He's bound by the Pact, the agreement among sorcerers of their conduct and rules.

Clea Masters is a human Med student who works at a motel to keep herself afloat. She's just lost the grandmother who raised her after her parents were killed in an accident. An accident that should have taken Clea's life as well, if not for some interference that cost the savior dearly.

Clea has a power inside her that keeps her safe. She doesn't know where it came from or how to control it, but it's never let her down. At least not until the night the gorgeous Ciarran saves her from a demon attack. From then on the two are joined at the hip, each unable to resist the other and Ciarran needing to keep Clea safe for more than one reason.

This was a spectacular book. I absolutely loved it. The story is well plotted, the pace is just perfect and the characters...oh my, the characters are to die for. Ciarran is perfect as the hero. Handsome, powerful, wounded, torn between two worlds, drawn to Clea even though she's dangerous to him. And Clea is a great heroine. Even when she's afraid she stands up and deals, just as her Gran taught her. She stands by Ciarran despite his problems and helps him to accept himself as he is, and stop mourning what he was.

I can't say enough good things about this book. My only question is when is the next one going to come out? I can't wait and I'll be first in line to buy it.

[...]

Just started reading this book a few days ago. Not too bad. Can't put it down. Love reading this book. Pick it up, it's great.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the two main characters, they're strong individuals, who find themselves facing new worlds. She, in the form of a world of magic and the presence of a hunk; he, in the form of a woman he's coming to love.

Also I enjoyed the inner struggle of Ciarran, the fight between good and evil, and the advice she gives him (the same advice her grandma gave her, btw).

The book was well-developed, with some nice ideas and a good feeling to it. Now, after having read that the following one is a bout Dian... I want it!!! LOL!

The "Compact of Sorcerors" series is yet another clone of Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Dark Hunter" books. This is not necessarily a bad thing and I found the premise here to be well thought out and interesting. I really liked the two main characters and the action in the book was pretty non-stop. However, I had a couple of problems with the book that other readers may or may not agree with. First, this is a "into the mind of a serial killer" book. There are several short sections of the book where we see into the mind of a demon. This is not your cuddly, funny, slightly wicked demon, but your horrible, totally evil, Book of Revelations demon. I personally find getting into the mind of a serial killer disturbing although I have many friends who would disagree and love "true crime" books. The second problem I had with the book is a bit of a spoiler....



I didn't like the way that the two main characters never worked to understand how she was depleting his power and how they could stop it. I know things were happening very quickly but it really bugged me the way they just kept going along without trying to do something about the situation. I had to take away two stars just for this because it seemed like lazy writing.

I love Eve Silver. I really do. Here is a woman who knows how to tell an interesting, plot-driven story, and yet also provides readers with filled-out, believable characters. Her female main character manages to be strong in the most adverse of circumstances. I especially like that her female characters are always strong -- not your typical romance novel heroine.

If you like science fiction/fantasy, and you like romance, you will like this book. If you are willing to believe in (or at least enjoy reading about) sorcerers and demons, light and dark portions of existance, and "super-powers" - then this is right up your alley.

Although I typically prefer gothic romances, I found this, and Eve's sci-fi romance "Driven" (written under the name Eve Kenin) to be wonderful books, completely engrossing.

I can't wait for her next book!

I can't believe I bought this thing for $8.00 (After shipping)!
Still in the plastic wrap, not a single mark, blemish, or scratch.

Having been a gamer all my life (since 1980) and have coddled and loved and invented different covers for many of my DnD books, this Special Edition just spoke to me. After receiving it as a gift and going through it, it is now my favorite gaming book. Satisfyingly reminds me of all the things I imagine in my game worlds, books of spells, lore and adventure.

loved the book. the leather binding gives it a beautiful touch on one of the Dungeons and dragon most bought book i loved it.

Very handy when playing. hes some extra things that is why it is version 3.5. the cover is very good and is why it is the special edition.

From WotC's description, the Special Editions are "premium black bonded leather". "Bonded leather" is a manmade compound; it is essentially leather fibers plus latex. This is far from the quality of a true leather-bound book (which would use real leather). As one bookbinder puts it: "recommended for use only if the book will be used infrequently."

Nice to use, but not absolutely necessary. Helps to design your dungeons.

I bought this set along with Arcane Corrridors Dungeon Tiles, Set 2 (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) and Hidden Crypts Dungeon Tiles, Set 3 (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory)and I love them! While they are useful for playing D&D they are very fun to just arrange on the floor. The artwork is fantastic and they are very durable. I have always wanted tiles where you can build your own rooms and hallways; now I can! I can't wait for more sets to come out.

If you can find any set of tiles for under $10 (including shipping), it's a deal hands down. I was expecting 6 sheets of glossy like tag-board about half the size of a sheet of paper each. What I received really blew me away for the value. Each tile sheet is the full size of a standard hardback D&D book. They're printed on very durable cardboard like you find in a kid's floor puzzle. And while they're glossy, they're also textured slightly with a kind of subtly raised crosshatch pattern that "zings" when you run the sharp part of your finger nail over it quickly. This keeps whatever markers you use from sliding all around on it. Now instead of each tile being the same size as the full piece of cardboard it's printed on, (other than 2 of the 6) each card is comprised of various sized individual tiles that you punch out of the cardboard, so when you're all done you have a stack of 38 separate tiles. 2 of the 38 tiles (a tavern and a house) are the full size of the sheet (8x10 squares), but all the rest range from 4x8 squares down to a 1x1. They all are double sided with various features on one side and mostly all blank dungeon floors on the reverse.

I was really surprised to find such a nice product, I'm looking forward to acquiring the rest of the set (up to 6 now!).

The tactical nature of 3.5 D&D combat begs for miniatures. A gridded surface to put those miniatures on is almost essential. Dungeon Tiles provide that surface in an attractive and durable package.

You get 6 full sheets of cardboard tiles. Each tile is protected with a finish that has a bit of 'tooth' to keep it from slding around on the tabletop. The art on the tiles is excellent and the first set strikes a good compromise between generic tiles and speciality bits.

I really do think these tiles give the best 'bang for the buck' of any D&D product out there. I don't know of a single DM that wouldn't benefit from a set or two of these in his/her collection.

These are high-quality, well produced and very helpful aids to the D & D game. Almost indestructible and in a variety of formations, these can be readily used in most dungeon delving situations. The only drawback noted is that there are no cave/cavern tiles. I have been told that further editions will remedy this. These tiles make miniature use a hundred times easier than it was before. Being that miniatures are being pushed heavily by the 3.5 game, this tile release makes perfect sense and it is nice that "perfect sense" actually meant something to someone at WOTC.

We got the other 13 books a while ago in the Oz series and Glinda of OZ wasnt available. It came very quickly and is the edition I prefer, with the larger size page and full page artwork.

Glinda of Oz (Books of Wonder) by L. Frank Baum is the last in the oz series that was written by Baum and is a splendid tale where we meet most of ourbeloved charachters like Ozma, Dorothy, Glinda, Jack Pumpkin, The Glass Cat and many other memorable ones. The story centers around Dorothy's and Ozmas attempt to avert a war between two tribes called the Flatheads and the Skeezers. The story takes many zany and crazy turns is a fitting conclusion to Baums oz series and I can not wait to read the rest of the oz books written by the other authors like Plumly Thompson and others.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this book on the shelf at Books Kinokuniya, which I bought within the next 2 weeks and read within the next day or two. As many of you already know, this is L. Frank Baum's last writing of an adventure in Oz involving our beloved friends and characters before he died. But what many of you don't know is that this book is the 15th (yes, 15. I choose to count 'Little Wizard Stories of Oz' as part of the series, as it was written by him).
I quote form the Afterword: 'Baum finished 'Glinda' in February of 1918, only 3 months before his death in May, and 1 year and 1/2 before the book was published. Though Baum did not live to see 'Glinda' published, he seems to have written it as a farewell to Oz. Since he was quite ill writing it, Baum knew this might be his last oz book. Perhaps that is why he not only gave so many of his beloved characters a "final bow" in 'Glinda', but also used the book to tie up the loose ends of how magic works in Oz'.
In this adventure, Dorothy and Ozma's visit to Glinda reveals (through the Great Book of Records) that the Skeezers have declared war on the Flatheads. Despite Glinda's lack of knowledge on them and her urging for them not to go, Ozma insists on solving the war, as she is Queen of Oz, and Dorothy agrees to come along too, who is given a magic ring by Glinda in time of need (Chapter 1 has a lot of pages, possibly the most out of the entire book). In their journey to the NorthWest, they manage to escape a Spider King, get across a Valley of Mist thanks to the Mist Maidens and arrive at Flathead Mountain. Meeting the King, Su-dic (L. Frank Baum makes another wordplay), they learn how his Queen Wife Witch, Rora, is also involved in the war and manage to escape before being captured. They arrive at the Skeezers' Lake Glass Dome, and their meeting with the young but selfish and vain Queen Coo-ee-oh results in being her prsioners, but fortunately become friends with one of her maids, Lady Aurex. That night, the Flatheads' attack results in the Glass Dome sinking into the lake and Coo-ee-oh being turned into a diamond swan (but still she remains vain of herself), which means that she cannot return the Glass Dome to the surface, leaving Dorothy and Ozma trapped below, even though they try to find ways to break the enchantment. Glinda learns of their trouble and calls together Ozma's Counsellors, which consists of (almost) all the characters we have known, met and loved. Together, they decide to find and free Dorothy and Ozma from their imprisonment. Meanwhile, one of Coo-ee-oh's servants, a young boy named Ervic meets the 3 Magic Adepts, who have been transformed into fishes, thanks to Coo-ee-oh's theft, and follows their instructions, which leads to his meeting of Red Reera the Yookoohoo sorceress, while at the same time Glinda and the others arrive at the Skeezer Lake. Reera returns the fishes to their true forms, who, along with Ervic, return to the Skeezer Lake, where they meet Glinda, the Wizard and everyone else, who together attempt to free the captured citizens of the Glass Dome. Eventually, the 5 magical performers join up with Ozma, Dorothy and Lady Aurex in Coo-ee-oh's basement, where they discover the means of Coo-ee-oh's magic, which rises the Glass Dome back to the surface. Once returned safely, a new Queen of the Skeezers is crowned, and the Flatheads are given treatment in a way that will stop further trouble from arising from them.
I loved reading this book and adding this to my collection of Oz Books by Baum and others. Although, even though this was a great adventure, it also had a few mistakes and/or disappointments:
* The only characters who failed to appear in this adventure are Aunt Em (Uncle Henry appears instead), the Hungry Tiger, Billina the Yellow Hen and Eurika, Dorothy's Kitten (Dorothy does mention the colours of the cat though). One character I HATE having in the series is Mr. H. M. Woogle-bug, T. E. (Highly Magnified, Thoroughly Educated), appearing here as one of Ozma's Counsellors. The story would've had an improvement if the HUNGRY TIGER had replaced him insted, along with a final appearance by Aunt Em, Billina, and possibly as an extra delight, the Good Witch of the North.
* Another disappointment is the pictures. John doesn't draw enough pictures throughout the book, and many chapters only have 1, 2 or 3 images: the traditional 'chapter-title', a 'full colour plate' and 'end-of-chapter' images (although, it is nice having the 'chapter titles' going for almost 2 pages). John does a portrait of Glinda, and it gets published twice. Fortunately, some chapters do have 5 or so pictures. There are no images of Reera the Red or Rora in their true forms, and quite a few colour plates are placed in the wrong chapter (e.g. the colour-plate of Dorothy and Ozma being carried by the Mist Maidens is placed in Chapter 2, when actually that particular adventure is in Chapter 3). Also, John draws 2 images of Trot and the Patchwork Girl: one in colour, the other black-and-white (which is far better, which means his should've kept the b&w version and changed the colour one to something else). Also, pg 176 has the Scarecrow drawn without his nose! And I much prefer having Dorothy's hair being long and brown, with Ozma longer and golden (slightly curled). But Dorothy still has short blonde hair, and Ozma's dark hair is tied up, a bit like Glinda's portrait. Glinda should've been drawn with her hair out in ringlets instead of in a 'net'.
* A few other reviewers have said that Glinda doesn't have a big enough appearance in this book, although her role is magnified. I slightly do agree that she could've appeared and done more in the story, maybe doing a 'end-of-story-speech-to-Dorothy-and-Ozma', which may have been expected, but rememeber, L. Frank Baum was sick during the writing of this story, so perhaps he meant to, but couldn't get around to it without letting anybody know.
But there are a few good points that are interesting about this book. L. Frank Baum may have gone back to his play and taken a scene/concept of that production and put it in this book: Glinda of the South gives Dorothy a Magic Ring in time of need which helps start the Rescue Expedition, which is just like how in the 1902 Stage play of 'the Wizard of Oz' how Locasta, the Good Witch of the North, also gave Dorothy a magic ring, which was later used to call for help in the Poppy Field, which summoned the snow storm to destroy the poison flowers.
As you may have noticed, the Flatheads who live in the NorthWest in this 'Glinda' book, are not the same Hammer-Heads as encountered by Dorothy and her friends in their journey to Glinda in the South in the 'Wonderful Wizard' book, which was an odd surprise. They are two entirely different people with different bodies, despite the similar flathead appearance.
But despite the mistakes and small/unimportant disappoitments, this was still a fantastic book to read. I'm sure that this would be an even more fantastic movie, if given a few improvements and slight changes.

...come to an end, so perhaps it's fitting that the last Oz book to be penned by L. Frank Baum was about Glinda, the good witch. This book always left me a little sad as a kid, thinking that it was the last of the original series. Baum seemed to really find his stride with in the last few books of the series, with such excellent installments at "The Lost Princess of Oz", "The Tin Woodman of Oz", "The Magic of Oz" and--of course--this one. Baum shows a lot of ingenuity in this book and the sinking of the city underwater reminds me of a work of science fiction--but of course, Baum has showed glimmers of this before, with the introduction of such characters as the robotic Tik-Tok. In many ways, Baum just seemed a bit ahead of his time, which is why, I suppose, his books remain so timeLESS.

The last by the original author of the series, this shows how peacekeeping ambassadors (Ozma and Dorothy) can become involved in a dispute and detained, their mission pushed aside by evil dictators. The Su-Dic and Queen Coo-eh-oh are vain, evil adversaries, causing a "war" between two of Ozma's populations. When Ozma and Dorothy try to reason with both parties they are rejected by one group, and taken prisoner by the other. Glinda and an entourage from the Emerald City must rescue the group, aided by three enchanted fish, who must first endure the odd cabin of Reera the Red, the Yookoohoo.

A great end to the original series, and these facsimile editions were long missing from juvenile libraries. Two generations missed the original Oz series when it was out of print for 25 years.

While this book was enjoyable for the most part, I really felt as if it was missing something throughout the story.. Its hard to say exactly what that something is, but I just wasn't fulfilled after this Harpers novel. More detail should have been provided in some instances and the background characters were too predictable (the sheiks and the Zhents). There's something else though that left me with a bored feeling throughout much of the novel. Maybe it was just a little too predictable or maybe I was just looking for something with a little more serious/mature feeling, but I just couldn't ever really get into Ruha and Lander's plight.

I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I was surprised to see this novel getting an overall 4.5 star rating on Amazon.

Definitely a great fantasy epic and one of my personal favorites, THE PARCHED SEA sheds light on the ever-expanding magical desert of Anauroch set in the amazing world of the Forgotten Realms!
The book is the first in a series of 16 novels focusing on the legendary Harpers, the primary secret organization fighting the spread of evil in Faerun.
A Bedine witch outcast joins a Harper agent out of Sembia sent into the Desert to thwart the Zhentarim plans of enslaving the indigenous peoples, setting up a direct trade route between East and West, and eventually expanding Zhentish influence all across the continent. In the process, the couple will have to overcome its worse fears if they are to stand a chance at success...
The Parched Sea deals with a neglected part of the Realms, The Desert of Anauroch, with its rich history, its proud and exotic people, and that feeling of excitement and adventure.
The book is so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense.
Troy Denning has done a FANTASTIC job of acquiring and presenting, efficiently and successfully, essential knowledge relevant to Faerun, including customs, religion and the history of the peoples of Toril. His solid grasp of factual detail makes him capable of providing the necessary background needed to carry out the difficult task of writing Forgotten Realms novels, which is something often missing from the work of many Fantasy authors. Consequently, from the moment you pick up the book you have trouble putting it down and if that is not a clear sign of a fantastic writer/author, I don't know what is!
Troy Denning is an experienced author, who has truly outdone himself and has presented us with a wonderful piece of literature the likes of which can be compared to JRR Tolkien's work, RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies, and in authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends trilogies.
Magic, Monsters, Harpers and Zhents are all about. In conclusion, it's what Fantasy reading SHOULD be. A GREAT book indeed and a "must read" if you love Fantasy and especially if you love the Forgotten Realms! DON'T MISS IT!!!
The Veiled Dragon, Harpers novel #12, also happens to be Troy Denning's sequel to The Parched Sea. I can't wait...

This was an enteratining book, that gives you a good amount of information about the peoples of the anauroch. I think that my only problem with the book is that the heroes would make a big deal about how certain stretches of the desert were impassible, and then travel threw them with really very little difficulty at all. One of the better in the Harper's series though.

This is the first of "The Harpers" novels. It is out of print, so you may have some difficulty obtaining a copy. The adventure is quite good, and the characters are all-too-believable. If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms, it is certainly a worthwhile acquisition.

There were several things I liked about the book. It was nice to learn about Ruha, the protagonist. She appears in a supporting role in a number of other FR novels, and I had always suspected that she had an interesting history. It was nice to finally learn some of that history. (Clearly, however, there is more somewhere, because at the novel's end her Harper affiliation is still somewhat negligible.)

I also enjoyed the portrayal of the Bedine and the desert nomad life. It reminded me quite a bit of "Dune" in the way the characters were always obsessed with water, and thinking of the desert almost as another adversary.

The "big three" in the book, Ruha, Lander, and Kadumi, are all well-created. They are all reasonably complex and have some inherent conflict that helps to drive the plot. Ruha and Kadumi in particular develop as characters. I would have enjoyed watching their relationship continue to develop. It would have been quite complicated, I am sure.

My only criticism of this book is that it does not particularly tie into the Forgotten Realms. There are a few passing allusions to the more famous Harpers, but really, there is very little that stamps this book as clearly a "Harpers" novel. In particular, one of the hallmarks of the Harpers seems to be their ability to respond to overwhelming odds with: 1) clever tactics, and 2) an above average "gallows" sense of humor.

While Lander's tactics were quite good (and frankly more believable than some other Harpers books) he never seemed to have the same attitude as most of the Harpers. Certainly there was very little humor in the book.

I do not want to be too critical of the novel's lack of "Harpers" feel, though. Many well-loved series take some time to find themselves. (Ask any Star Trek: The Next Generation fan about the first half-dozen episodes and you will understand what I mean.) Overall, this was a very enjoyable read.

My love of the Baulders Gate and Neverwinter Nights PC/PS2 games (both set in Forgotten Realms) is what drew me to pick this up. This is the first FR book I had read, and I wasn't dissapointed.

A great starting place for anyone that's into Fantasy or the Forgotten Realms games.